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ATLANTA & CORONA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) and Monster Beverage Corporation
(NASDAQ: MNST) announced today that they have entered into definitive
agreements for a long-term strategic partnership that is expected to
accelerate growth for both companies in the fast-growing, global energy
drink category. The new, innovative partnership leverages the respective
strengths of The Coca-Cola Company and Monster to create compelling
value for both companies and their shareowners.

Importantly, the partnership strategically aligns both companies for the
long-term by combining the strength of The Coca-Cola Company’s worldwide
bottling system with Monster’s dedicated focus and expertise as a
leading energy player globally.

Details of the Transactions:

Equity Investment: In an effort to
align long-term interests, The Coca-Cola Company will acquire an
approximately 16.7% ownership interest in Monster (post issuance) and
will have two directors on Monster’s Board of Directors. The Coca-Cola
Company expects to account for its investment in Monster under the
equity accounting method.

Business Transfers: To optimally
align product portfolios and enable those portfolios to benefit from
each company’s respective brand marketing, production and distribution
strengths and optimize the parties’ capital and resource allocation, The
Coca-Cola Company will transfer ownership of its worldwide energy
business, including NOS, Full Throttle, Burn, Mother, Play and Power
Play, and Relentless, to Monster; and Monster will transfer its
non-energy business, including Hansen’s Natural Sodas, Peace Tea,
Hubert’s Lemonade and Hansen’s Juice Products, to The Coca-Cola Company.

Distribution: The Coca-Cola Company
and Monster will amend their current distribution agreement in the U.S.
and Canada by expanding into additional territories and entering into
long-term agreements. The Coca-Cola Company will become Monster’s
preferred distribution partner globally and Monster will become The
Coca-Cola Company’s exclusive energy play. These agreements will deliver
sustainable value to The Coca-Cola Company’s global system and
accelerate Monster’s opportunity to grow internationally.

Pursuant to the terms of the transaction agreements, at the closing, The
Coca-Cola Company will make a net cash payment of $2.15 billion and
transfer its worldwide energy business to Monster. In exchange, Monster
will issue to The Coca-Cola Company the shares of Monster common stock,
transfer its non-energy business to The Coca-Cola Company, and enter
into expanded distribution arrangements. The transaction, which is
expected to close late in 2014 or early in 2015, is subject to customary
closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approvals.

“The Coca-Cola Company continues to identify innovative approaches to
partnerships that enable us to stay at the forefront of consumer trends
in the beverage industry,” said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of The Coca-Cola Company. “Our equity investment in
Monster is a capital efficient way to bolster our participation in the
fast-growing and attractive global energy drinks category. This
long-term partnership aligns us with a leading energy player globally,
brings financial benefit to our Company and our bottling partners, and
supports broader commercial strategies with our customers to bring total
beverage growth opportunities that will also benefit our core business.”

Kent added, “We are excited to evolve our long-time partnership. Monster
has been an important part of our global system since 2008, so we have
experienced first-hand Monster’s performance-driven and entrepreneurial
culture, proven success in building and extending the Monster brand and
their strong product innovation pipeline. We believe this partnership
will create compelling and sustainable value for our system and our
shareowners.”

“The transaction announced today represents a unique opportunity for
Monster and its shareholders,” said Rodney C. Sacks, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Monster. “We gain enhanced access to The Coca-Cola
Company’s distribution system, the most powerful and extensive system in
the world. At the same time, we become The Coca-Cola Company’s exclusive
energy play, with a robust portfolio led by our Monster Energy line and
The Coca-Cola Company’s energy brands. Our business will be bolstered by
The Coca-Cola Company energy brands we will acquire, providing us with
complementary energy product offerings in many geographies, as well as
access to new channels, including vending and specialty accounts,” Sacks
said.

“Our agreement enables us to focus on our core energy business, while
leveraging the strength of The Coca-Cola Company’s powerful distribution
and bottling system on a worldwide scale,” said Hilton H. Schlosberg,
Monster’s Vice Chairman and President. “The goals of both companies’
management teams are further aligned, with a great enhancement to
Monster’s position as one of the world’s leading energy beverage
companies. We expect the transaction to significantly accelerate our
growth and results of operations internationally, and we plan to review
all options available to return a substantial amount of cash to our
shareholders,” Schlosberg added.

Advisors

Barclays served as financial advisor and Jones Day served as legal
advisor to Monster. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP advised The
Coca-Cola Company.

About The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage
company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still
brands. Led by Coca-Cola, one of the world's most valuable and
recognizable brands, our Company's portfolio features 17 billion-dollar
brands including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater,
Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Georgia and Del Valle. Globally, we are
the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and
juices and juice drinks. Through the world's largest beverage
distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy our
beverages at a rate of 1.9 billion servings a day. With an enduring
commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused
on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, support active,
healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our
associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities
where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the
world's top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system
associates. For more information, visit Coca-Cola Journey at www.coca-colacompany.com,
follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CocaColaCo,
visit our blog, Coca-Cola Unbottled, at www.coca-colablog.com
or find us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/the-coca-cola-company.

The Coca-Cola Company Forward Looking Statements

This press release may contain statements, estimates or projections that
constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined under U.S. federal
securities laws. Generally, the words “believe,” “expect,” “intend,”
“estimate,” “anticipate,” “project,” “will” and similar expressions
identify forward-looking statements, which generally are not historical
in nature. Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
The Coca-Cola Company’s historical experience and our present
expectations or projections. These risks include, but are not limited
to, obesity concerns; water scarcity and poor quality; evolving consumer
preferences; increased competition and capabilities in the market place;
product safety and quality concerns; increased demand for food products
and decreased agricultural productivity; changes in the retail landscape
or the loss of key retail or foodservice customers; an inability to
expand operations in emerging and developing markets; fluctuations in
foreign currency exchange rates; interest rate increases; an inability
to maintain good relationships with our bottling partners; a
deterioration in our bottling partners' financial condition; increases
in income tax rates, changes in income tax laws or unfavorable
resolution of tax matters; increased or new indirect taxes in the United
States or in other major markets; increased cost, disruption of supply
or shortage of energy or fuels; increased cost, disruption of supply or
shortage of ingredients, other raw materials or packaging materials;
changes in laws and regulations relating to beverage containers and
packaging; significant additional labeling or warning requirements or
limitations on the availability of our products; an inability to protect
our information systems against service interruption, misappropriation
of data or breaches of security; unfavorable general economic conditions
in the United States; unfavorable economic and political conditions in
international markets; litigation or legal proceedings; adverse weather
conditions; climate change; damage to our brand image and corporate
reputation from negative publicity, even if unwarranted, related to
product safety or quality, human and workplace rights, obesity or other
issues, even if unwarranted; changes in, or failure to comply with, the
laws and regulations applicable to our products or our business
operations; changes in accounting standards; an inability to achieve our
overall long-term growth objectives; deterioration of global credit
market conditions; one or more of our counterparty financial
institutions default on their obligations to us or fail; an inability to
realize additional benefits targeted by our productivity and
reinvestment program; an inability to renew collective bargaining
agreements on satisfactory terms, or we or our bottling partners
experience strikes, work stoppages or labor unrest; future impairment
charges; multi-employer plan withdrawal liabilities in the future; an
inability to successfully integrate and manage our Company-owned or
-controlled bottling operations; global or regional catastrophic events;
and other risks discussed in our Company’s filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Annual Report on Form 10-K
for the year ended December 31, 2013, which filing is available from the
SEC. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date they are made. The Coca-Cola Company
undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements.

Certain statements made in this announcement may constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. federal
securities laws, regarding the expectations of management with respect
to Monster’s future operating results and other future events including
revenues and profitability. Monster cautions that these statements are
based on management's current knowledge and expectations and are subject
to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of the
control of the Company, that could cause actual results and events to
differ materially from the statements made herein. Such risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: whether
and when The Coca-Cola Company transactions are completed, and results
expected from them; unanticipated litigation concerning the Company's
products; the current uncertainty and volatility in the national and
global economy; changes in consumer preferences; changes in demand due
to both domestic and international economic conditions; activities and
strategies of competitors, including the introduction of new products
and competitive pricing and/or marketing of similar products; actual
performance of the parties under the new distribution agreements;
potential disruptions arising out of the transition of certain
territories to new distributors; changes in sales levels by existing
distributors; unanticipated costs incurred in connection with the
termination of existing distribution agreements or the transition to new
distributors; changes in the price and/or availability of raw materials;
other supply issues, including the availability of products and/or
suitable production facilities; product distribution and placement
decisions by retailers; changes in governmental regulation; the
imposition of new and/or increased excise and/or sales or other taxes on
our products; criticism of energy drinks and/or the energy drink market
generally; the impact of proposals to limit or restrict the sale of
energy drinks to minors and/or persons below a specified age and/or
restrict the venues and/or the size of containers in which energy drinks
can be sold; political, legislative or other governmental actions or
events, including the outcome of any state attorney general and/or
government or quasi-government agency inquiries, in one or more regions
in which we operate. For a more detailed discussion of these and other
risks that could affect our operating results, see Monster’s reports
filed with the SEC. Monster’s actual results could differ materially
from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Monster assumes
no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Additional Information

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any
sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation
or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under
the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. This communication is not
a substitute for any prospectus or any other document which may be filed
with the SEC in connection with the proposed transaction. INVESTORS AND
SECURITY HOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ ANY RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT MAY BE
FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME
AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE
PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and security holders will be able to
obtain free copies of any documents filed with the SEC through the web
site maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov.